Aburame Rogue
by QuikSylver
Summary: Kiba and Shino are sent on a mission to find and subdue a rogue ninja that may have roots back to the Aburame clan. [Yaoi, Shino x Kiba] [Rating may go up in future chapters]
1. The Mission

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Kishimoto Masashi must be stinking rich.** (I wish I was rich. ..)

Anyway, this is going to be a YAOI fanfic. Don't know what that is? Well, I'm too lazy to explain it. (I mean, what are the odds of someone reading Naruto fan fiction and not knowing what yaoi is?)

Pairing: **ShinoKiba**, maybe hints of others

Warning(s): None. Absolutely nothing. I feel slightly depressed that I didn't even write any (gasp!) swears. (At least I don't remember doing so…)

Maybe I'll up the rating in the future, try a lemon or something.

I was trying for humour here and there, so any feedback on that would also be appreciated. And… I'll stop boring you with my five-hundred line opening-thingy. On with the story!

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Chapter 1: Day 0

---

-Kiba's POV-

"Shino-kun! Oi! Shino!" yelled Inuzuka Kiba, running towards the training ground Team 10 typically used, Akamaru several steps ahead. As the bug-user turned, the dog leapt up and hit him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Kiba pulled up beside them, laughing.

"…Kiba," Shino said, the slightest hint of a threat in his usually emotionless voice - in fact, the slight inflection was so minute that most people (i.e. not Kiba, Kurenai, Hinata or one of his family) would not have been able to tell the difference. Kiba supposed that the fact that his dog was seated smugly on his chest had something to do with it, but he only laughed again.

"I'm sure you needed a break anyway," he shot back, dropping to the ground beside the fallen Aburame. "You sure work hard."

"…Kiba," Shino said again, the threatening tone more noticeable this time, "if you don't remove your dog from my person, I will remove him myself. Forcibly. With my insects. There will be fleas involved later."

Kiba swallowed visibly. "A-all right." He patted one of Akamaru's massive flanks. "C'mon, boy, Shino's being a stick bug in the mud."

The dog gave a low whimper, probably in agreement, and slowly climbed off his master's team mate.

The two chûnin stared at each other for several moments (at least Kiba assumed Shino was staring at him… with the heavily tinted sunglasses that were an Aburame trademark, his friend could very well be taking a nap or watching a cloud like that lazy Nara Shikamaru) until Hyuuga Hinata ran up, slightly breathless.

"Hi, Shino-kun, Kiba-kun…" she greeted politely, looking a little puzzled. "Isn't Kurenai-sensei here yet?"

Shino sat up, brushing himself off. "No, I just got here several moments ago myself." He turned his head towards Kiba, probably in reference to his comment earlier but the Inuzuka paid him no mind.

"Oh… It's unlike her to be late," Hinata remarked. "I wonder if we have a mission and that's what's holding her up…" She seemed to be thinking aloud.

"I hope it's something good, all these D-rank missions are starting to get on my nerves," Kiba remarked, leaning back against Akamaru, who was now at least half of his master's size, if not more. "I'm hoping for a C-rank, at least, but I wouldn't object to a B-rank one." He closed his eyes partway and studied Hinata. Lately the fourteen-year-old had begun to notice that the girl had filled out somewhere along these past two years, but since he'd seen her everyday, he just hadn't noticed it, almost like he hadn't noticed Akamaru's growth, but those two had both changed considerably over the past two years.

Reflecting upon it, he supposed Shino had changed as well, donning steadily heavier and more concealing clothing until all that was really visible of the Aburame were his hands and a space around his (bespectacled) eyes. Conversely, he himself had changed as well, but not as much as his team mates… But if you asked them, he thought they'd probably say the same about themselves.

The only one who really hadn't changed, apart from aging, was their teacher, Kurenai, who looked the same as always, Kiba mused.

---

About thirty minutes later, a jônin appeared several feet away in a dramatic poof of smoke - not exactly Kurenai's style, which prompted Kiba to wonder if she was ill or called away on an A- or S-ranked mission.

Hatake Kakashi, known in other countries as the Copy Nin, stood before them in all his silver-haired, one-eyed glory. He raised his left hand in greeting. "Yo." He rivalled Shino in the whole 'concealed-ness' area, as he only showed one eye, and really on the tips of his fingers and his hair were visible, but Shino still won, in Kiba's opinion.

"…Konnichiwa, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata greeted, looking a little unsure, but not nervous, like she used to be around other people - that was only reserved for Naruto now, a fact for which Kiba was glad: he preferred the confident, powerful Hinata over her younger counterpart. "…Is Kurenai-sensei ill?"

The Copy Nin shook his head, his silver hair swaying almost comically. "She's been called away on a secret mission along with Asuma," he explained, his eye closing in the upside-down crescent that symbolized a smile for the former ANBU. "I believe she'll be back within the week." He seemed on the verge of departing when he said, "Oh, right, Tsunade-sama wanted to see you two, Kiba and Shino. I think she said something about a mission."

He nodded once, then disappeared again in that same mysterious smoky poof. Kiba had always considered the ninja something of a show-off, and this somehow confirmed his views of the Hatake.

"Oh…" Hinata sighed. "I was going to show Kurenai-sensei my new genjutsu…"

"…You could show us, Hinata," Shino suggested, somehow seeming to Kiba like he was trying to console their team mate, which then seemed absurd - the Hyuuga was in no need of comfort. "Right, Kiba?"

"Uh, right," Kiba agreed hastily, not wanting to seem like he hadn't been paying attention.

"Gomen, but I'm not, well, finished it actually," Hinata confessed. "I was hoping Kurenai-sensei would be able to give me some pointers on how to improve it, because I was making it from scratch. …I think I'll just go back home and see if my father or Neji-nii-san will help me with it. And besides, Kakashi-sensei said Tsunade-sama wanted to see you." She smiled, a little sadly, at her two team mates. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow, maybe."

"…Hai," Shino agreed, and Kiba somehow got the impression that her polite refusal had hurt the Aburame… It had hurt him a little, actually, that she wasn't willing to share her new jutsu with them, but there wasn't too much either boy could really say to explain it to her. They _did_ have a mission, after all, and it wouldn't do to give the somewhat lazy and mostly irritable Hokage a reason to be angered with them.

The Hyuuga waved good-bye and trotted off for home, leaving the two boys behind.

"That was odd," Kiba remarked, once she was out of sight, and presumably, earshot. "You'd think she would've wanted to show us her new jutsu." Akamaru barked his agreement.

"Hn," was the elaborate reply.

"I mean, we were here for half an hour, that should've been plenty of time," Kiba continued as they began to trot to the large pinkish-red building that housed the Hidden Leaf Village's administration.

"She had no way of knowing we would be there without Kurenai-sensei for half an hour," Shino pointed out, abruptly turning to avoid being run over by a harassed-looking woman shoving along a stroller filled with a tubby, bawling toddler. "For all she knew, sensei could have turned up any minute."

Kiba frowned. "I suppose. But still, it bothers me that she didn't even mention it!"

Shino made no reply, signifying that he had lost interest in the conversation. It was one of those things that bothered the Inuzuka to no end, but no matter how hard he tried, (and he had tried many times in their first year in the same team) it was impossible to keep up an argument with the other boy. He usually lost interest after several moments and stopped replying, effectively winning the debate because Kiba was left spluttering aimlessly like an idiot - another thing that bothered the brunette. He often felt like an idiot around his more mature team mate, and at times over-shadowed; while the Aburame did nothing to encourage the thought, like boasting or showing off, Kiba learned early that what was left unsaid often had the most impact when it came to the bug-user.

"…Not talking to me again, eh?" Kiba sighed. "You lost interest more quickly than usual." He could see the disturbingly pinkish building up ahead, getting closer with every step.

"…Lost interest?"

In another person, the tone might have given the two words the air of a statement, but to the Inuzuka he sounded highly curious.

"W-well," Kiba stammered, caught off guard, "you usually seem to, whenever I try to get in an argument with you," he explained awkwardly, glancing at his friend out of the corner of his eye. "You just stop talking."

He thought he saw the Aburame raise an eyebrow beneath the heavy shadow of his hood, but that could have just been a trick of the light.

"I… dislike verbal confrontation."

Kiba snorted. "Yeah, I've noticed." He found himself absently scratching Akamaru behind one floppy ear, a nervous habit he'd picked up around the time that he could comfortably do so without bending to reach the dog's head.

"But that does not mean I lose interest," Shino continued. "You often make good points."

The Inuzuka blinked in surprise: this had been unexpected. "Well, I've always thought so," he agreed with a grin, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

"And-"

Whatever Shino had been about to say was cut off by the abrupt arrival of Izumo, one of the two chûnin who, more often than not, cleaned up after the Hokage when she threw her chair out the window or destroyed a desk in a fit of administrative rage.

"Oh, good, you're here," the man said, relieved. "Tsunade-sama is not in a good mood… She practically took off Kotetsu's head with that last thrown book…" He rushed them through the open archway, into the Hokage's office, where an irate-bordering-on-enraged Hokage sat seemingly calmly behind her desk. Her demeanour, the content expression on her face, spotlessness of her desk all spoke of calm.

The latter could be explained by the papers and books strewn on the floor. Kiba assumed that the woman had shoved them off angrily, and rather recently too, considering Shizune had not yet made an appearance.

As well, a rather large hole had appeared in the glass slightly to the left of her head. It looked vaguely chair-shaped, and considering she was perched almost like a child on her desk, the Inuzuka could only assume one thing:

Fleeing was a good option, and plausible in numerous situations…

But this was not one such situation.

Sometimes he cursed the day he'd decided to become a ninja, then realised it hadn't really been a decision. More like an assumption that, since he was from a ninja clan currently residing in a Hidden Village, he would become a ninja.

Kiba was abruptly brought out of his thoughts as the Hokage started outlining (in a sweet, innocent voice) their mission details.

"We've recently received reports of a bug-user in the Land of Stars(1), which is near the Land of Earth," she explained. Kiba wanted to point out that it was probably one of that weird clan that had attacked he, Shino, Hinata and Naruto when they'd gone in search of the Bikouchu, but had the feeling such action would not be a good plan at the moment.

"He bears the appearance of an Aburame clan member," she continued, "Face-concealing coat, messy brown hair, thickly-tinted glasses…"

Beside him, Kiba noted that Shino had stiffened almost imperceptibly. Maybe he was insulted that the Hokage had called his hair messy.

"And we have been offered this chance to smooth over the… indifferences of our two Villages by the Village Hidden in the Sun(2)," the Hokage explained, "if we find and apprehend, if not eliminate, this ninja." She glanced at the two as if to see if they'd been keeping up. Kiba gave a slight nod, as did Shino.

"I have chosen you two because Shino's father is away on another mission and therefore unavailable. I would have sent father and son, but that's impossible now. Instead, you'll have to go."

"…Why not Hinata as well?" Kiba asked, then immediately wished he hadn't. The expression, though fleeting, that crossed Tsunade's face was not a pleasant one. 'Ohgodohgodwe'reallgonnadie' would have been a better adjective for the look.

"It is an A-ranked mission, at least, and one that I would prefer to hand out to jônin rather than chûnin, so I asked your and Hinata's parents if they would approve of your… participation in this mission, and Hyuuga-san, as was within his right, requested that Hinata not be included in this particular excursion. Your mother, however, had no qualms, and seemed to think that a team effort would have better odds of succeeding." The woman sounded weary. "And here you are. I'm debating sending Sakura with you, in case of injuries needing medical treatment, but I understand that you three have never worked together before, so that probably would not be a good idea."

"Hokage-sama… You have not yet explained why it is imperative that a member of the Aburame clan partake in this mission," Shino remarked, the slightest tension betrayed in his voice, "Or why this is practically considered an S-ranked mission."

"Ah, yes. Well, it seems that this mysterious ninja also uses that same kikkai-ichu bugs that your clan does, but the effects are far more devastating."

"…Devastating?" Kiba repeated. Whenever his team had been forced into a fight and Shino had brought out his kikkai-ichu, they had certainly seemed devastating in his opinion.

"Hai. It seems this ninja has been unleashing them on rural villages throughout the country, and killing the entire populace. All people possess chakra, as you well know, and he has been using the innocents as livestock, draining their chakra until they die."

Kiba's eyes widened in shock. He'd never thought of it before, but now that the topic had been brought up, it didn't strain credulity that such atrocities were possible, it was just that Shino was much too humane and, innately, kind to even consider such a drastic course of action.

"…I know of no one within my clan that would ever do such a thing," Shino said firmly, in a tone that brooked no argument. "The very thought is outrageous… And yet you have solid proof, don't you, Hokage-sama…"

"Unfortunately. What we really need is for you to find and subdue this menace as soon as possible. I suppose I could spare another chûnin for the job, but you'd have to find them-"

Kiba would have liked to request Shikamaru's accompaniment, but Shino spoke faster.

"That is unnecessary, Hokage-sama. I'm certain Kiba and I will be sufficient."

Tsunade studied them for a long moment. "Very well. You'll be leader, Shino, because you'll understand this ninja much better than Kiba. I'll give you the rest of the day to prepare, since it's nearly noon at any rate, but I expect you two to both leave at dawn. Do I make myself clear?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" they replied in unison, Akamaru giving a bark, although Shino sounded considerably less thrilled.

"Dismissed."

The two chûnin turned to leave when she suddenly spoke again.

"Oh, and the next time you see that idiotic, dawdling Copy Nin, tell him that his next mission will consist of the most useless, menial tasks I can scrounge from the depths of the rejected mission basket, will you?"

Kiba winced. That was not a fate he envied, that was for certain.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Shino replied for him, and the two left just as Shizune burst in.

They could hear the two medic nin arguing in the background as the descended the stairs to the street.

"Well, I guess I got what I asked for," Kiba remarked, stretching. "Although an A-rank was above and beyond my expectations." The two were passing an alleyway as he said that and the Inuzuka abruptly found himself shoved up against the wall, Shino's hidden face inches from his own.

"Don't even joke about that," he said, sounding considerably more frosty than usual. "Do you even realise how dangerous this mission could be? The Hokage _asked_ your parents if they wanted you to go out on this mission. I've never even heard of that happening before. And what's more, she offered to send her probable predecessor, Haruno Sakura, along with us, in case we were injured! I don't think you quite understand the seriousness of this mission."

"I- I was just trying to shrug off the uneasy feeling I got from that meeting!" Kiba protested, shifting slightly. Behind Shino, Akamaru was whining in a confused fashion, unsure of what to do - this friend was attacking his master, but he was just that - a friend.

A moment later Shino had backed off. "I… apologise. I'm on edge myself. Forgive me."

Kiba blinked, glad that sudden outburst was over. "'s all right," he assured his friend, despite feeling slightly hurt that the other would consider him such an idiot.

"…Not really. I… will make it up to you later," Shino promised. "We'll meet by the Gate at four-thirty, and leave by five o'clock, at the latest."

"Hai," Kiba agreed.

The two stood there at the mouth of the alley awkwardly as several people walked by, giving the two fourteen-year-olds no mind.

"Well, I guess I should go pack," Kiba remarked, shifting uncomfortably.

"Hai," Shino agreed, and the two parted ways.

---

Around eight o'clock that night, there was a knock on the front gate of the Inuzuka clan's compound.

Kiba, who had just finished his own dinner and was going to take Akamaru for a walk, answered it.

"Oh, hi Shino," he said, slightly puzzled by his appearance. "What are you doing here?" Their respective clan compounds were pretty much on the other side of the village from the other's.

"I wished to speak with you about the mission tomorrow," the Aburame replied, gesturing for the Inuzuka to walk with him.

"…Couldn't it wait for tomorrow?" questioned Kiba as the two started to walk down the darkening lane. "I mean, not that I was doing anything, but you don't usually do things like this," he clarified, in case he sounded like some selfish child.

"…I would rather not speak about it out here," Shino replied, quickening his pace slightly. "I… It would make more sense were you to come to my clan compound and I could show you."

Kiba raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he sped up to match his friend's pace. "I see." It was all pretty mysterious, and if Shino wanted to speak about it someplace private, so be it.

He studied the taller boy out of the corner of his eye. It was odd, the way he was acting. He was as tense as he had been eight hours ago, if anything even more so than before, which led Kiba to try and make small talk.

"So, uh, how has your-" he paused then. 'How has your family been?' didn't really seem appropriate at the moment, "-day been?"

At Shino's sharp look, Kiba winced inwardly. That word choice hadn't really been all that great either.

"I spent the time after I was finished packing in my clan's library."

"Oh."

They continued in silence for several minutes, and Kiba estimated it would be another ten to fifteen minutes until they reach the Aburame compound.

"…How has your day been?" The Aburame's words startled Kiba, but he was a little pleased as well. He'd thought the Aburame had lost interest again, but apparently not.

"Oh, not so bad. I restocked my soldier pills and helped my sister with a new litter of puppies. One of them looks just like Akamaru did when he was little," Kiba replied. Akamaru gave a bark of agreement. "And I got to practice that new Inuzuka technique, but I'm still not so good at it yet."

"Hm, well I look forward to seeing the successful jutsu once you have mastered it," Shino remarked, sounding mildly interested. "Perhaps you'll be able to use it on this mission as well."

Kiba grinned sidelong at his friend. "Yeah, maybe, but I'm not Naruto."

The Aburame looked at him strangely. "Not Naruto…?" he echoed.

"Well, y'know, he always seems to master his jutsu in the nick of time and stuff like that, but it's never happened to me," Kiba explained, shrugging. "I guess it's 'cause he's got the Kyuubi sealed inside him or something."

"…I suppose."

The rest of the brisk walk was passed in silence, and as the sun slipped below the horizon, leaving a red-pink stain at the bottom of the sky, they reached the imposing Aburame compound.

Most of the windows were dark, as the entire clan seemed to follow the daily schedule that their kikkai ichu did.

While the compound seemed no different than the average clan's compound, surrounded by a ten foot brick wall, with most houses connected by walls, but closed off from their neighbours, the darkened area seemed to have a sinister air that no other clan could lay claim to. To Kiba's trained nose, it smelled… Well, a lot like Shino, which certainly wasn't an unpleasant smell, but subtly different, more… dangerous? But that was insane, and Kiba shook those thoughts away.

And the fact that, compared to most, the clan was so small in such a large compound, added to the mysterious aura surrounding the Aburame Ichizoku.

"…Everyone's away on missions?" Kiba asked in a soft murmur. Even though he'd come to Shino's home many times over the past two years, he couldn't quite get over the heavy, almost library-like quiet that blanketed the compound, and found himself speaking in a near-whisper the whole time he was there.

"Yes, or asleep," Shino replied calmly, in his regular voice, but it didn't echo in the stillness. Neither did his footsteps, for that matter, although Kiba's seemed to reverberate off the walls and disappear into the darkened lanes and alleys. He had a feeling if he spoke normally, his voice would echo unnaturally as well.

Shino led the way to a small building near the center of the small community that stood alone and separate from all the others. Oddly enough, soft light could be seen through the windows, illuminating rows of bookshelves.

Kiba was surprised to realise that, although he and Shino had been in the same team for a while now, he'd never been anywhere in the compound except his team mate's home, and even then he hadn't really paid any attention to how his friend had led him there, so he doubted he could find it even now.

In fact, he thought with a shock, Shino more often came to his and Hinata's home than they to his, and he seemed to know the layout of both their compounds fairly well.

They stopped before the wooden double doors, Shino stepping forward to knock quietly, then step back beside the Inuzuka. Akamaru's tail wagged audibly as they waited, for what, Kiba didn't know.

Several moments later, Kiba heard the sound of a no doubt heavy cross bar being lifted, then placed gingerly beside the doors. The left door opened, and a pair of trademark Aburame glasses nearly blinded Kiba with their light-reflecting glare as a waft of musty, old-bookish smell hit him.

"Who are you?" demanded a surprisingly loud female voice. "Shino said he was coming back later-"

"I'm here, Auntie," Shino said mildly, much to Kiba's relief, for she swung her head - and blinding glasses - towards her supposed nephew.

"Oh, Shino-kun… Ah, yes! You said you were bringing a friend, didn't you? How forgetful of me." The door swung open wider and Kiba saw the woman within more clearly.

Her very gray hair was pulled back tightly into a bun, and her face, though thin and wrinkled, was certainly healthy. She wore a gray coat similar to the one Shino used to wear, but the collar was open. She was wearing a pair of standard issue ninja pants, and he saw a kunai and shuriken holster on her hip.

"Auntie Shirike, this is Inuzuka Kiba, the boy who will be accompanying me on the mission," Shino introduced, and Kiba bowed.

For some reason those words seemed to hold a significance for the old woman, for she seemed to give Kiba a very searching, appraising look before one corner of her mouth quirked up in an almost-smile. "Very nice, Shino-kun," she said approvingly.

Kiba blinked wondering what that was supposed to mean. "Gomen, Shirike-san," he said politely, which caused her to chuckle mysteriously.

Shino cleared his throat, sounding slightly embarrassed, but his next words gave no indication. "Kiba, this is my great-aunt Aburame Shirike," he added.

Kiba bowed again. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Shirike chuckled again and gestured for them to enter. "Well, hurry up you two. An old woman like me's got to get to bed early!"

The Inuzuka was tempted to point out that the entire clan seemed to 'get to bed early' but decided against it. This woman was interesting and it wouldn't make sense to alienate her so early on, since she seemed to like him somewhat.

"Hai." Shino stepped inside, Kiba following, but Shirike suddenly stuck her arm in front of him.

"No animals allowed inside!"

"I-" Kiba blinked, caught off guard. "S-surely you'll understand, Shirike-san… He's my companion, and I hardly think of him as an animal. Akamaru won't do anything, I promise."

Akamaru gave a low wuffle of agreement, staring up at the old woman with puppy dog eyes that could melt even the coldest Inuzuka heart.

Shirike sighed. "Very well. I suppose if you promise…" She stepped back and he continued inside. Shino nodded at him, as if he approved of Kiba standing his ground.

"Try to be finished by nine, all right, Shino-kun?" Shirike said.

"Hai."

Shino gestured for Kiba to follow him as he disappeared into the warren of bookshelves.

Kiba gave her a quick smile before hurrying after his friend, Akamaru a step behind, on his best behaviour.

He glanced around, noting the candles set in brackets about the building. He wondered why they would use fire rather than electricity since there was all this paper around waiting to catch flame. And they weren't very effective either as he hurried to catch up to Shino, because the tall bookcases cut off the meagre light they cast, and the fact that the spaces between bookcases were thinning out didn't help things. Kiba began to feel claustrophobic as they neared the center of the building, for the candles were set only on the outside walls, and it was practically black this far in, but he could still navigate by his sense of smell, and as he neared Shino's scent he slowed so as not to crash into him.

But he had expected to be able to see Shino, and walked into him anyway, because the Aburame was kneeling.

Kiba cursed as he fell on top of his friend, and quickly scrambled to his feet, apologizing softly.

"Sorry! I-I didn't see you!" whispered Kiba, feeling his cheeks heat in embarrassment. He imagined that the red tattoos on his cheeks were blended perfectly with the blood rushing to his face.

Shino stood as well, but as always he was unreadable. "I should have said something," he assured his friend. "It's fine. I found the book I wanted to show you anyway, so we can leave now," he added, then stood there expectantly.

It took Kiba several moments to realise the Aburame expected him to lead the way out of the labyrinth he had jokingly called a library.

"Uh, I don't know the way back out," Kiba muttered, sweat-dropping. "You were going so fast that I didn't have time to memorise where we were."

"Hm. Well, there's not really much space to move around," Shino observed. "But I should have thought of that…" He stepped forward and Kiba pressed himself as far against the bookshelf as possible to accommodate the Aburame.

As Shino passed, their hands brushed. Shino faltered for a moment, then quickly apologised.

"Uh, it's fine," Kiba assured him in a murmur, a little confused. "C'mon, hurry up, Shino. I want to leave this library… It sort of freaks me out, you know?"

"Hm." Shino navigated the maze-like bookcases with ease, Kiba making sure to keep only one or two steps behind so there would be no more falling mishaps.

When Shino stopped abruptly as they neared the main part of the building, Kiba walked into him. Akamaru gave a sort of doggish chuckle behind him.

"Sorry," Kiba apologised, heat rising to his cheeks, and he got the feeling his cheeks were one solid color. Again.

"It's fine," Shino replied. More loudly, he called, "Auntie! I've got the book, and I'm going to borrow it for my mission tomorrow."

"Oh, which book is that again, Shino-kun?" Shirike bustled out of a shadowy path of bookcases to their left.

Shino held up the book for her to examine and Kiba saw that it was about two inches thick, a well-thumbed paperback with worn black leather covers.

Her brow furrowed slightly as she neared them. "Oh… _The History of the Aburame Ichizoku, Volume 2_." She nodded. "All right, but be sure to bring it back! We've only got one copy of that volume." Her stern words seemed to hold a significance for Shino, who straightened almost imperceptibly, and tucked the small book into his pocket.

"Hai. Of course."

"Well, I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Shino-kun," Shirike assured him, softening her tone slightly. "Run along, I have to go to bed now. These bones aren't as young as they used to be, or something like that." She chuckled and hustled them out.

"It was nice briefly meeting you, Shirike-san," Kiba said politely.

Shino's aunt chuckled again. "I'm sure it was," she said dryly. They had reached the door, and she'd given them a little push over the threshold. "Good-night," Shirike said, and closed the door in their faces.

Kiba could hear her bustling about, snuffing candles and rearranging books.

"…She's a little… different," Shino remarked, leading the Inuzuka away.

"I liked her," Kiba replied sincerely. "It's… refreshing to know your entire clan isn't soft-spoken and emotionally devoid."

"…I'm not emotionally devoid," Shino stated as he turned to slide open the door that, presumably, led to the home he and his father shared. "I just prefer not to show my emotions."

"Heh," Kiba muttered. "I'm not very good at that, compared to you." They removed their sandals and Shino flicked on a light, revealing the small, modestly furnished family room. Although Shino's father was widely considered the successor as clan leader, he and his son, a small family, were still relegated to an average-sized home.

As his friend led him to his room, Kiba looked around, committing the layout to memory, so he wouldn't suffer that strange anti-epiphany again.

He noticed that, while the halls weren't sparkling (in fact, they were somewhat dust-coated), they were… neat. The Inuzuka compound halls were regularly littered with things varying from ninja weapons to clothes to canine items, so this absence of mess was almost… shocking.

"Your halls are neat," Kiba remarked as Shino stopped before the door at the end of the hall.

The Aburame glanced back at him, as if he doubted the sincerity of his words. "Hai. But a little dusty. My mother used to take care of such things." His voice was unreadable as he spoke of his dead mother.

"Oh," Kiba said tactfully. "Um, well… I just meant that the halls back at my house are pretty messy."

"I see." Shino slid the door open and they entered, the Aburame flicking on the light as he passed. "Sometimes Auntie comes and dusts, but not often."

Kiba realised he'd never really paid attention to the details of Shino's room the few times he'd been in it either. The room was a lot larger than the family room. It was long, and a large bed dominated the far side, opposite the door, which stood on the far end, a shut off closet beside it. Two small windows were set in the wall opposite, one across from the door, the other above the bed. A rather large bookcase was centered between the two, and it was filled with books and scrolls.

A desk sat several feet from the door, and several scrolls, a lamp and an open book were placed haphazardly atop. Kiba noticed that a full length mirror was hung on the wall beside the desk, and above the desk hung a framed picture of a woman, presumably his mother. Between the mirror and the closet , door were various stands with a variety of shuriken, kunai and other ninja tools, and beyond that a rack of jackets, standard-issue pants and shirts. A rug stretched across most of the room, and several cushioned chairs were placed at various intervals around the space.

"…Isn't that a closet?" Kiba asked, pointing to the door.

"…It's a bathroom," Shino explained.

"Oh." Kiba was really laying on the tact thickly now.

Shino grabbed one of the cushioned chairs and pulled it up beside the desk. "You can sit here," he said calmly, sliding into the chair that went with the desk.

Akamaru jumped into the pulled-up chair and sat there expectantly. Kiba stifled a laugh.

"Not you, Akamaru," Shino said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Arf!" Akamaru barked, sounding disappointed as he sprang down. He stuck his tail high as he strode over to Shino's bed and made himself comfortable.

"…Don't forget about the fleas, Kiba," Shino said mildly, pulling the small book out of his pocket. He began to flip through it, presumably looking for a certain page.

"Akamaru, get down from there!" Kiba said, once he'd managed to stifle his laughter. The flea threat hade helped considerably. Thinking the action cautionary, he sat down beside Shino, who had stopped on page 203.

"I take it that this is about the mysterious ninja we're supposed to track down?" Kiba asked as Akamaru trotted over and curled himself about his masters chair.

"Hai," the Aburame agreed. "I've been researching possible links of this ninja to my clan, even though I did not want to believe anyone who belonged to or used to belong to my clan would do such horrendous things," Shino explained, flipping the page again. "Auntie was helping me."

"Okay," Kiba replied, for lack of anything useful to add to the conversation.

Shino glanced at him, then handed him the book. "Read this passage," he said, pointing to the page on the right, about a quarter pf the page down.

"'kay." The Inuzuka accepted the offered book, and nearly dropped it because Shino drew his hand back so quickly that he almost didn't see him move.

"Sorry," Shino apologised, and Kiba wondered why he was apologising: the Aburame seldom apologised, because he seldom did things that required an apology, yet here he was, doing just that, for things that required no form of apology whatsoever.

He was probably just on edge because of what Tsunade-sama had said about that ninja being a member or former member of the Aburame, Kiba decided.

" '_In the year 1900, Aburame Shito and his younger brother Shiku left the Ichizoku with their families - Aburame Tsuni, Shito's wife, and their two children, and Aburame Shouji, Shiku's wife, who was pregnant at the time. They were the sons of the patriarch's brother and advisor, Shiko, and had access to important scrolls detailing various powerful and forbidden jutsu_,' " Kiba read aloud, " '_They stole a number of these, and fled. Using his status in the clan, Shiko offered to place his life in the stead of his errant sons and their families. Reluctantly, Shino-_' " Kiba assumed this was the patriarch of the clan at the time, and found it rather telling that his friend shared this man's name, " '-_had his brother put to death, as was the custom, and they put the missing members out of their mind. The stolen scrolls were recreated and all returned to normal._' " He started to read the next paragraph, thinking that it would hold more information on the two brothers, but there was nothing about them.

"…That's it?" Kiba asked, a little surprised. "Surely there's more? I mean, they _left_ the clan!"

Shino nodded. "I know. But that's all there is. I think there may have been more, at one point, but… The Aburame dislike to leave traces of their past errors."

Kiba's eyebrows rose and he ran a hand through his hair. "Ugh… It said the year 1900... What year is that?"

"We don't count years like that anymore, we conformed to the standard date in Konoha, but before my clan was really accepted into the Village we counted our date differently. I believe that would be… around seventy years ago," Shino explained, accepting the book Kiba handed to him.

"Seventy years… It doesn't say how old they were upon their departure, but I assume they were probably in their thirties… You'd have to be pretty close to your prime to carry out something like that and succeed," Kiba stated. "Their children were probably a couple years younger than us, but not too much younger, because it would be foolish to do so with really young children…"

"Hai, I'd come to basically the same conclusion," Shino agreed. "They're probably dead by now, but it's probably that their children are still alive, and their children's children(3), if they had any."

"And you think that one of their children's children is the ninja?"

"Hai."  
"Okay, so he know that much, but that still doesn't help us figure out how to track this guy."

"Or girl, but I've already thought of this too," Shino said, selecting a relatively small and slim reddish-brown scroll. "This scroll teaches how to track another person who uses kikkai ichu."

"I thought you could already do that?" Kiba asked. He had very little understanding about how Shino related with his bugs, and thought it must be something akin to the bond between himself and Akamaru, just on a much higher level, since Akamaru didn't actually _live_ inside of him.

"Only with people I have come in contact with, so I imagine this scroll was designed specifically for this task, tracking down and neutralizing other members who had split off from the clan, without their knowledge," Shino explained.

"Oh. But how much range does it have?"

"Well… I believe it's about ten miles, but the Land of Stars isn't very large, so that should be a problem," the Aburame replied, tucking the scroll into one pocket, the book in the other. "I've also been learning more secret jutsu of my clan, so I think it would be a good time to test those out as well."

Kiba nodded and stifled a yawn. He glanced outside and realised it was pitch black outside.

"I'd better go, early to bed, early to rise and all that," Kiba said, standing. He stifled another yawn. "What time is it anyway?"

"About nine. And I wasn't aware you used proverbs," Shino remarked.

"Oh, well-" Kiba could feel his cheeks heating. Again. He'd actually looked a bunch of proverbs up to impress his friend with a while ago and they'd stuck in his memory, "-you know, I do pick up a book, once in a while." He laughed a little uncomfortably, but Shino just studied him gravely.

They stayed like that, Shino sitting and watching Kiba, the Inuzuka shifting a little uneasily beneath his friend's scrutiny. Akamaru barked and broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Right. I was leaving. Bye, Shino," Kiba muttered, following his dog to the door. Shino rose as well, walking beside him all the way to the door.

"Four-thirty, right?" Kiba clarified as he slipped on his sandals.

"Hai. Do you know the way out of the compound?" Shino asked.

"Uh… No…" Kiba sweat-dropped. Akamaru gave a soft whimper and thumped his tail against the ground.

Shino nodded, apparently unsurprised. He slipped his sandals on and slid the door shut behind him. A little light spilled out of the window, illuminating the lane about them, but not enough to really be useful.

"So, um, there's really nothing more about them in the book?" Kiba questioned softly as they moved silently along the still lanes of the compound.

"There's a family tree at the back, but other than that, nothing," Shino replied. "I'm descended from the Shino mentioned in the text, actually."

"Wow, well I guess that's not too surprising, since your dad's probably going to be the next clan leader," Kiba said quietly.

"…That branch of the family descended from Shino fell out of favour after his death. It has taken my father a long time to regain our status."

"…Oh."

"Hm."

They reached the gate to the main part of Konoha several minutes later.

"I trust you know the way back to your own compound?" Shino asked dryly.

Kiba's eyebrow twitched and Akamaru gave a soft 'woof' or appreciation. "Yes, I do." He opened the gate and stepped out onto the lit street.

"Oh, and Kiba?"

The Inuzuka turned. "Hai?"

"Gomen." The Aburame closed the gate softly.

"Uh, what for?"

But Shino was already gone.

"Weird… He's been acting strange since we got this mission," Kiba mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Akamaru's tail wagged in agreement.

"Well, whatever. Maybe his bugs are sick or something. C'mon, we wouldn't want to be locked out, eh?" He grinned slightly, remembering the time he'd been out past curfew and his mother had made him sleep outside. He'd just climbed the wall and went inside.

Master and companion turned and disappeared down the street, leaving the Aburame compound dark and silent behind them.

Sometimes he wondered how Shino survived in such an alien (to Kiba) atmosphere.

Day 0 - End

Word count: 6962, discounting this, the disclaimer, the author's notes, etc.

Author's Note:

(1) Yeah, it's a land I made up, because… I needed to. :P Pretty lame, ne? ;)

(2) Pretend that would be possible, a Village Hidden in the Sun… It'll make more sense later, I promise.

(3) I've always wanted to write 'children's children':3 I'm just nerdy that was xD

So, did you like all the lame names I came up with? I'm quite proud of them xP I'm hoping that they won't be glaringly wrong or something lol

Yeah, and if you're reading this? Leave a comment or something, because they encourage me to write more. I take anon. reviews, anything. Leave something like 'cool' or 'I liked it' and I'll be happy. (Although I prefer long reviews.) I guess I'll even take flames, because it's not like I can stop you from flaming anyway.

What did you think of my attempt to write from Kiba's point of view? I thought I'd done that pretty well, but there I go, tooting my own horn or whatever. Floating my boat. Any feedback on that would be appreciated as well. J

-Unrelated- My spell checker thought 'Inuzuka' should be 'kebab'! Hahaha… ha… Funny… -trails off-


	2. Lunch and a Dream

_**Disclaimer: Don't own. Kishimoto my idol.**_ (Well, sort of.)

Pairing: **ShinoKiba**, maybe hints of others

Warnings: Well, I wrote… a word. H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS, I'M SORRY!! -cries- Er, not really. I just wanted an excuse to move this up to a 'T' rating. I suppose, upon reflection, that this actually has more mature themes than fics with a 'K+' rating, and anyway - how many kids below 12 are on this site? Just a thought. o.O

All right, read, enjoy (or else!), review, etc. I'm always looking for feedback, positive or otherwise. I appreciate long reviews as well!

---

Chapter 2: Days 1 & 2

---

Shino's POV

Shino woke up at around 4 o'clock. His kikkai ichu were buzzing (that was the only word he could think of to describe the sensation), and he was aware that he was… looking forward to the mission.

Which made sense (he would be alone with Kiba), but at the same time didn't (the chance to fight an Aburame rogue that he'd previously been unaware of).

It seemed things were ending up like that more often than not these days.

Like how he had apologized to Kiba last night; that had been so obvious (at least in his mind) but then… the Inuzuka could be so oblivious sometimes. Which was what Shino found alluring…

Brushing off the thought, the Aburame rose and glanced at himself in the mirror. Despite what the casual observer might think upon observing his heavily-clothed self, he slept in very little. A pair of boxers was usually it, if he was at home, but he always slept fully-clothed during missions. He had an image to maintain, after all.

His hair, in all of its brown glory, was messier than usual, but since he'd started wearing a hood for the entire time he was out of house, it really didn't matter. Iridescent eyes stared at their reflected self, appearing a little sleepy, but he put his glasses on quickly, disliking the reminder that his eyes were so different from everyone else's. The world had a darkened pallor now, and as he moved about, dressing and checking that he had everything he would need, he thought about how much brighter the world would be if he could spend every moment of it with the usually exuberant and cheerful Inuzuka Kiba.

Then he berated himself for thinking such useless thoughts while he should have been preparing for an important mission.

Shino grabbed a quick breakfast and hurried out the door, heading for the main gate into Konoha. He gave a slight wave to his Auntie Shirike, who had come to stand outside the door and see him off, as he passed.

Pausing to adjust his pack, he glanced around. The sun was hardly up yet, its golden rays just beginning to stain the horizon a rosy red, and it was still rather dark out. No one was stirring, and it would have been completely silent except for the incessant chirping of the birds.

When he reached the gate, which was roughly the same distance from his and Kiba's clans' compounds, it was about twenty after. Kiba wasn't there yet, but he could hear Akamaru's deep barks in the distance.

Smiling, the expression hidden by his numerous layers, the Aburame looked around again. It seemed that Shiranui Genma had gate duty again. The senbon-sucking special jônin gave him a quick wave before turning back to look outside the walls.

He heard Akamaru running up, and could have easily avoided the beast if he'd wanted to, but allowed himself to be tackled by the large white dog.

Shino enjoyed hearing Kiba's laughter as he ran up beside his two best friends. "I'm not late, am I?" he asked, sounding a little worried, but his eyes were still smiling.

"You will be if your dog doesn't remove himself from my person," Shino said. He tried to act like _it_ was nothing, and that included threats such as these to keep the 'act' going.

Akamaru shoved his nose into Shino's face, nudging aside his collar to press the wet thing against his chin.

"Akamaru!" Shino could hear the amusement mingling with horror in Kiba's voice and heaved the great beast off of himself.

Kiba scratched the back of his head and grinned apologetically at Shino as he stood up. Akamaru barked in a pleased fashion.

Shino turned away and started walking toward the gate, leaving Kiba and that dumb mutt behind. (His affection did not extend to Kiba's other best friend.)

"Aw, c'mon Shino, don't be like that," Kiba whined, catching up several moments later. "Y'know Akamaru doesn't mean it! He just likes you, that's all."

Shino said nothing and gave no indication that he had heard his team mate.

Kiba sighed. "Anyway, you'll never believe what Kira did last night when I got back…" Shino assumed Kira was another Inuzuka, and the two settled into a comfortable routine, Kiba talking, Akamaru periodically contributing barks and Shino only replying when the conversation demanded it.

At one point Kiba started talking about a girl he'd seen on the way home hanging around a bar yesterday, and Shino resisted the urge to stiffen.

"Yeah, I think she was around seventeen, but she was hanging out with a couple of thirty year olds, at least, and I think they were all shinobi, but she was a civilian or a visitor or something, and I don't think she knew what she was doing… She was pretty hot, though."

"Hn."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kiba cast a sidelong glance at him, then return to facing forward. He tucked his arms behind his head and asked, "So, what about you, Shino? Seen any hot chicks lately?"

"…No." Shino didn't find girls attractive, but he wasn't about to tell his team mate that. He had a feeling he would freak out, and the Aburame didn't think he could withstand such a rejection of his feelings. He'd had his fair share of rejections of his values, and behaviour, over the years, and wasn't eager for more. At all.

Kiba grinned. "I dunno, you must not be paying very much attention to your surroundings, then. Hinata's looking pretty hot these days, y'know?" His grin slipped and he hastily added, "But we're just friends. That would be weird, like incest or something, And she likes Naruto. Don't know why though." He muttered that last part, and Akamaru gave a small "Arf!"

"He gives her hope. In refusing to give up, going so far as to beat Neji, the supposed prodigy, he shows her that she _can_ change, if she tries hard enough, regardless of what anyone else says," Shino replied. "She idolizes him. You've seen the effects of his influence. She came up with an absolute defence to rival Neji's, on her own. Naruto inspired her to do so."

Looking for the Inuzuka's reaction out of the corner of his eye, Shino saw Kiba looking chastened.

"Well, yeah, but you'd think she could draw inspiration from us, or something," he complained.

"We do not have such lofty goals, nor such, in the beginning, mediocre talents," Shino pointed out. "It would take a drop out like everyone reputed Naruto to be, and what Hinata considered herself to be, to influence her to change and improve so drastically. She's a lot more confident now, and almost never stutters," he added.

Kiba chuckled slightly. "Around us. Although I suppose you're right, she has generally become more independent. Except around Naruto. I bet she'd faint if she saw him now. I swear, she's getting more and more obsessed everyday."

Shino gave an almost imperceptible shrug. "True."

Kiba changed the subject and began rambling again, occasionally asking Shino for his opinion, or his advice, and Shino gave it when required.

---

They stopped after almost eight hours of walking when they came to a small but prosperous town about half a mile of the road.

When the two chûnin entered the small but busy café, Shino saw that the clock read 12:34. They sat in the booth closest to the door, Kiba and Akamaru crammed into one side, Shino seated comfortably on the other.

The slightly harassed seeming waitress bustled up five minutes later, asking what they wanted to drink and if they were ready to order.

"A cheeseburger, please, and two milks - one in a glass, and one in a bowl," Kiba ordered politely. Akamaru barked in agreement.

The woman looked startled, like she hadn't noticed the massive white dog sitting beside the Inuzuka. "I'm sorry sir, but there's a no animal policy…" She trailed off. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you two were ninja."

"No problem," Kiba replied, patting his dog.

She gave him a grateful smile and turned to Shino, notepad and pen poised and ready to take his order.

"A Caesar salad, please," Shino requested. "And a glass of water."

"Mm hm. Ok, you guys wanted one cheeseburger, a glass of milk, a bowl of milk, a Caesar salad and a glass of water, right?" she affirmed, then bustled off again once they'd nodded.

Kiba stretched, stifling a yawn. "Whew. I can't believe I'm so tired. I should be used to this sort of schedule by now, eh Shino?"

"Hai."

Kiba laughed. "Well, I guess you've always adhered to keeping these crazy hours, so it's not much of a change for you."

"Hm."

They sat in silence until their food arrive about ten minutes later.

"Gomen," Kiba said as their waitress placed their food before them.

"Enjoy," she said, and was gone to serve more people.

Shino ate his salad quickly. It wasn't great, but he'd been to restaurants where the lettuce and other vegetables had been stale, bordering on rotten, and he had to wonder if he was served such mediocre food simply because he was a ninja, and whether the people thought of shinobi as blessings or ill omens.

"Mm," Kiba mumbled, munching happily. He'd devoured his lunch In a matter of seconds. Akamaru barked, his bowl already licked clean. Kiba drained his glass in a single gulp, letting out a satisfied, "Ahh…"

Shino finished his salad, pausing to sip his water periodically, and was done several minutes later. He smiled at Kiba's antics behind his high collar once he was finished.

The waitress reappeared a moment later, bill in hand. She placed it scrumptiously on the table and asked, "Was everything agreeable, sir?"

"Hai."

Kiba nodded. "It was great." The dog beside him barked in agreement, and the waitress smiled.

"You can pay at the front, just bring the bill up with you," she added. The men sitting in the booth behind them hailed her and she hurried off to serve them.

"Let's split it," Kiba suggested, picking the small white slip up. He stared at it for a couple of moments then handed it to Shino. "I'll pay mine and you'll pay yours."

Altogether, Kiba would have to pay about seven dollars and thirty-five cents, and Shino four dollars and fourteen cents.(1) It paid to be a light eater like Shino, and his purse showed it.

"Hai," Shino agreed, and rose, brushing any stray lettuce particles or crouton crumbs that may have accumulated off as he did so.

Kiba dug around in his pocket for a moment before his hand emerged with a half-full coin purse in the shape of a sitting dog. He flipped it open and pawed through it until he pulled out the correct change.

"All right, let's go Akamaru," Kiba exclaimed, rising. Akamaru followed suit and he followed Shino to the front counter. A weary-looking man greeted them. He glanced at the bill then held out his hand for payment, which Shino, then Kiba, dropped into his open, sweaty palm. He counted it, then nodded and dropped it in the cash register.

"Gomen," Kiba said, and the three walked out.

On the street, Kiba remarked, "Well, that was nice. She was nice."

Shino raised an unseen eyebrow. "In which way?"

The Inuzuka stopped dead, and Shino walked into him.

"What?" the Aburame asked, irritated.

"…You thought she was hot," Kiba stated.

"…No."

"Yeah, you so did."

"No," Shino said it more firmly this time.

"Well, whatever." Kiba started walking again and Shino kept pace.

"…What made you think that?"

"C'mon, you never talk about girls, other than the ones we were genin with, and you just talk about their fighting ability or convictions or something."

"I was… displaying an interest. You told me yesterday that I lost interest, which is untrue, so I'm just _showing_ my interest in what you have to say," Shino explained, somewhat coolly. He didn't want Kiba to get the impression that he was interested in some random female he saw in a café.

"Uh-huh, right," Kiba agreed, but his tone belied his words.

"Hn." Shino decided not to even try anymore, and reverted to his usual, un-talkative state.

Akamaru trotted along beside them as the two chûnin resumed their brisk trek on the road.

Without warning, the dog suddenly shoved his nose up Shino's sleeve, right into the centre of his palm.

"Ugh!" Shino exclaimed in disgust, jerking his arm away. "Stop, Akamaru," he said sharply.

Kiba chuckled and patted the beast's head. "Good boy."

Shino scowled and quickened his pace. "If you know I dislike it, why do you encourage him?" he demanded as his team mate adjusted pace accordingly.

"I… I dunno. It's funny to see some reaction from you sometimes," Kiba stammered.

"So you allow him to do it for your own amusement?"

The Inuzuka swallowed, realising his mistake, and quickly backtracked. "No, not at all, it's just… You rarely show your emotions, so it's _nice_, not funny, to see you let down your guard," Kiba amended. "But if you really don't like it, I'll get him to stop."

"…Hn."

"See, that's what I mean."

Akamaru gave a wuffle and nudged Shino's leg, apparently as contrite as his master.

Shino grimaced, but bore it. If Kiba found it _nice_, not funny, to see him let down his guard… He wouldn't complain, at least not about minor things like Akamaru nudging against him. Though the Inuzuka didn't know it, Shino was willing to do many things, and change a great deal, for the dog nin.

---

That night they set up the tent in silence. Shino estimated they'd walked about fifteen miles altogether, which left an additional fourteen the next day. (2) If all went well, they'd be in the Land of Rice, where Otogakure was located, at this time tomorrow.

They'd picked a clearing several yards from the road, with a stream on one side and the road on the other. Tall trees provided shade on the other two sides, finishing the scenery.

The two chûnin ate their rations quickly, and were slipping into their sleeping bags fifteen minutes later, in a smaller version of the tent Team 8, plus Naruto, had shared on their search for the Bikouchu a year and a half ago.

"Heh, I remember when Naruto complained about how early you made him go to bed, and he was the first one asleep…" Kiba snickered. "I wonder how he's doing, training with one of the legendary Sannin… I almost envy him, you know?"

"I suppose," Shino replied, shifting into a more comfortable position. "Although given that the other two Sannin are Tsunade-sama and Orochimaru… Neither sounds overly enviable."

"Yeah, true." They lay there in silence, and when Shino thought Kiba had fallen asleep and was on the verge of slumber himself, the Inuzuka suddenly said, "Hey, you know what?"

"…No."

"Well, I was thinking, and isn't it weird that Sasuke's being trained by that weird snake freak Orochimaru, and Sakura by Tsunade-sama, and Naruto by Jiraiya?" Kiba asked, bemused.

"Hm." Shino had, in fact, thought of that before, but had never felt the need to speak of it. He always got the feeling that he and the rest of his team were just props in some grand play starring Naruto, whose team shared the glory simply because that was what they were: his team. And Shino and his friends were just understudies, watching from the wings, sometimes entering that brightly lit stage to mixed reactions, ranging from applause to boos, but he'd always chalked that up to paranoia or something similar. The thought was absurd.

"…G'night, Shino," Kiba mumbled sleepily several moments later.

"Good night," Shino replied.

---

_An young child of maybe five years old was chasing his father, running after him as fast as his legs could carry him, tears streaming down his face from his black eyes, eyes that set him apart and condemned him as different. Some detached, fourteen-year-old part of his mind registered that he wasn't wearing glasses, but the child-like part of his mind ignored this, focussing solely on not being left behind. Being left behind - a child's one, over-riding fear that most are unconscious of until they are threatened with that reality, of being left behind._

_As he ran, each step jarring through his body like a shudder of pain, he wondered why he was doing so - his father would never be so cruel as to leave his only child behind, would never even consider such a thing. _

_Try as he might, he couldn't reach his father, and it seemed like with each step he took, his father took five - at least. It seemed like he was running on a wheel, running along the same white picket fence, passing the same rusty-hinged gate hanging forlornly, but somehow his father stay ahead, never running far enough ahead so he was behind him, always in front but out of reach, and sometimes closer, then so far he had to squint to see the miniscule figure._

_He couldn't stop, no matter how hard he tried, and he couldn't slow down either; always running full-out, towards that elusive man ahead of him. His messy brown hair was familiar, yet foreign, and his gray jacket reminded him of something he couldn't quite put his finger on. And the glasses - they hurt him to look at, and he couldn't understand why, but every time his father turned his head to look back, they made him want to cry - but he already was crying, so it didn't really matter._

_Then something happened, breaking the cycle - his father stopped and he ran up beside him, catching his hand only to see that it wasn't his father, but a sneering man with a blood red hitai-ate(3) tied around his forehead to keep his lanky black hair out of his eyes. The symbol carved into the steel plate was foreign to him - a circle with four small triangles evenly spaced about it._

_The sensation that something was very, very wrong spread through him, reminding him of a time he had been at the market and had been separated from his mother; he'd run up to a lady wearing a jacket similar to his mother's and grabbed her hand, but it hadn't been her. His mother had found him, eventually and apologized to the woman whose hand he'd grabbed, but he had a feeling that this would not happen this time. "F-father…" he whimpered, trying to pull away, but the man just laughed mockingly and tightened his grip about the infant's hand._

_He leaned forward, small, beady brown eyes making him think of a greedy rat eying him hungrily. "Your father's dead, Shitami," he sneered, his lips curling up to reveal yellowed teeth and a wave of multi-layered stench hit him, alcohol and rotting food and sweat all mingled together to form an unwholesome, disgusting smell. "Too bad, eh?" He laughed again and he saw he was holding a kunai in his other hand._

"_No! Please, no," he whispered, struggling against the man's vice-like grip, but inevitably he saw the kunai descending towards his throat, and the hungry look had been replaced by a murderous gleam…_

---

Shino woke with an upset stomach and a strong urge to pee. Judging from the soft light filtering through the thin walls of the tent, it was still night, so he rose and quietly slipped out to relieve himself, somehow climbing over Akamaru and Kiba, who were lying in front of the opening.

He stared out at the slow-moving, gurgling stream that wound its way to one side of their campsite, calming himself. He'd had a dream, and knew it must have been important, but the details had slipped away from him and all he could remember was a blood red headband with a sun-like symbol carved into the steel plate - most likely the symbol of the Village Hidden in the Sun, which made him think that the Hidden Village had more to do with this situation than they had originally let on.o

When he returned to the tent, lifting the tent flap to let himself back in, a beam of soft silver moonlight illuminated Kiba's face, He felt it was cliché to say, or think, that he looked peaceful when he was asleep, but he could think of no other words to describe the tranquil, content expression on the Inuzuka's face. But in that reflected light, Shino couldn't help but think that the red tattoos adorning his friend's cheeks looked like abstract, bloody tears.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, staring at his best friend's face, but when Akamaru raised his head and gave a sleepy, low bark, Shino shook himself out of his stupor and entered the tent, allowing the flap to drop back into place.

---

The next morning Shino woke at four o'clock. He lay there for several moments, pondering why his left leg felt so heavy and warm, fantasizing that Kiba was draped over it.

But why his left leg, of all places? And if that was so, why did he still have his clothes on? And why did his ankle feel wet?

Raising his head slightly, Shino opened his eyes to see Akamaru lying there, maw opened and drool seeping steadily onto his convenient head rest - Shino's sleep bag- and pant-covered left shin.

He wondered how long the dog had been there, to have successfully soaked his drool through two layers of heavy fabric.

"…Kiba," he said, reaching over to shake his friend's shoulder.

"Nn, one more minute, mom," he mumbled, rolling over so his back was facing the Aburame.

Shino felt a twinge of annoyance and shook him harder. "Kiba!" he exclaimed.

The Inuzuka sat bolt upright as he made that alarmed, half-snort half-gasping sound that a person makes when they inhale sharply when woken suddenly. "What? What?"(4) He looked around in a bewildered fashion until his sleep-filled eyes fell upon Shino. "Oh. Sorry. What is it?"

"Your dog is drooling on my leg."

"…Oh." Kiba smirked when he saw the saturated state of the other nin's sleeping bag. "I told you, he likes you."

Shino just stared at his friend, who swallowed and quickly added, "Just nudge him with you foot or something."

The Aburame scowled (although Kiba didn't see) and complied.

Akamaru snorted and rose, stretching, then slipped out of the tent, probably to go do his business.

Shino quickly slid out of his bag and pulled on his sandals, trying to ignore the damp sensation about his left ankle.

"We're leaving in ten minutes," he told Kiba, who had lain back down to go back to sleep.

The other boy mumbled something that sounded vaguely like, "Hai," and closed his eyes,

The Aburame shook his head and slipped outside. The grass was wet with dew and he could hear the birds chirping in the trees about him. Akamaru was rolling about, seeming oddly like an over-sized pup.

"If you like me so much, go wake your master," Shino told the dog, who rose to all fours and trotted back into the tent. Shino wondered if Akamaru was actually going to do as he'd said.

Kiba's yelp of, "What the hell, Akamaru?!" confirmed it. Maybe he didn't give the dog enough credit, the Aburame thought with a smile as he washed his hands and splashed his face in the stream beside the road, because Kiba joined him several moments later, mumbling incoherently under his breath.

"Why'd you make him do that?" the Inuzuka complained after dunking his head underwater to rouse himself. He shook himself vigorously, spraying Shino's glasses and the bridge of his nose as he did so.

"Oops." He wiped the offending droplets off, seemingly before he thought about it, because he stared from his hand to Shino in shock for several moments before his hand dropped to his side and he quickly changed the subject.

"Why d'you always wear those glasses?" he asked, rising, a pinkish tinge crossing his face.

"Why do you have those two red tattoos on your cheeks?" Shino replied, following suit.

"Well… That's different, I want to see what your eyes look like," Kiba protested. "And it's not like I can remove these - but you can take your glasses off. …Unless they're crazy-glued to your face or something."

Shino rolled his eyes. This was an old sore point between the two of them, and the Inuzuka would just _not_ drop it. Maybe one day, if the fact of their relationship changed, but not now.

He walked past his friend without replying and re-entered the tent.

Kiba followed him and they packed up their things in silence, gone from the small clearing border by a small stream and the main road by four fifteen.

Shino hitched his pack so it sat more comfortably on his shoulders. While Kiba didn't talk _all_ the time, the Aburame found himself unaccustomed to the frosty silence that stretched between them. Not that he loathed silence; at one point he would have rejoiced for the speechless moment, and in most situations he still did, but not when he was in Kiba's company.

At first the Inuzuka's seemingly constant chatter had annoyed Shino to no end. He had been the odd one out so to speak; Hinata was so shy and stuttered so badly that she seldom spoke, and by nature Shino didn't often speak, but somehow Kiba made up for it, constantly asking their opinions or prying into their lives and managed to coax them out of their silent shells, and both of the Inuzuka's team mates had something to show for it; Hinata stammered a lot less, at least around them, and Shino found himself speaking much more than he used to, even going so far as to initiate conversation amongst the other ninja he had become genin with. Kiba had brought a lot to his life, ad Shino thought that this was the reason he loved him so much.

"Oi, Shino, I asked you a question," Kiba growled, poking him in the shoulder. "Stop zoning out, will you?!"

"…Your pardon. What was the question?" Shino asked, catching the dog nin's hand as he was about to poke him again. "Stop that."

"Fine," the Inuzuka muttered petulantly. "I asked you what you were thanking me for the day before yesterday."(5) He pulled his hand out of Shino's grasp and started scratching Akamaru behind the ear.

Shino blinked. "You're only asking me now?" he asked, stalling for time to think of an answer.

"Well, yeah. I sorta forgot yesterday," Kiba explained.

"Then it must not be important enough to warrant the need for an answer," Shino reasoned sagely.

"No. Stop stalling, it's unlike you. Which makes me even more curious about the answer," Kiba shot back.

The Aburame's eyebrow twitched. Caught. He made no reply, hoping this trusty option would be as useful as it had been in the past.

Kiba exhaled loudly. "Fine. But I will get an answer from you, Shino!" he promised.

"Hn."

With this exchange of words, (well, word) they fell back into their regular routine of Kiba talking shino's ear off and the Aburame occasionally contributing.

The day passed uneventfully and by nightfall they had reach the border to the Land of Rice.

"We'll camp here," Shino decided, pointing to a copse of trees off the main road - they'd left the forest a while ago. "We should get through this country as quickly as possible."

"Hai," Kiba agreed.

Neither noticed the merciless black eyes observing them from the trees, both having thought themselves safe on the Konoha side of the border.

How wrong they were.

Days 1 & 2 - End

Word Count, excluding disclaimer and A/N: 4642

(1) Yeah, I did the bill in dollars because… I don't have any idea how much yen those items would cost or whatever.

(2) Oh my, I am such a nerd. I actually got my dad to figure out, theoretically, the distance between Konoha and the Rice Country, then the distance between the border of Konoha-Rice Country and Rice Country-Star Country. I feel so nerdy. :3

(3) Too lazy to figure out if that's the correct spelling or not. Tell me if it isn't, if you like. I'll correct it if it isn't.

(4) My dad actually does that; he falls asleep in front of the TV with the remote clutched in his hand and when you try to remove it he wakes up just like that; it's hilarious xD

(5) Hey, anon. reviewer Aize! This proves I actually read reviews! (I luff reviews, so if you want me to continue… REVIEW, DAMN IT!) But actually, I intend to answer that question later on in the story, so… Keep reading.

Ehehe, whaddaya think of the (attempt at a) cliff hanger? Me likes. ;3

So, any thoughts, comments, critiques, flames, errors spotted or possible ways to improve this? Tell me. By review, preferably, because reviews are love, but if you message me I'm fine with that.

Thanks for reading!

Oh, this is -unrelated- but I also do requests - one shots, drabbles, probably not chapter stories because I tend to leave those unfinished (I SWEAR I'LL FINISH THIS ONE, EDELRIC13! HONEST!) but if it's one of the fandoms I've already written for I'll do it, as long as it's with characters I'm comfortable with.

On an even -more- unrelated note, if you're a fan of ShinoKiba or ShikamaruNeji (I know I am xD), you should totally read The Cynical Optimist's fics. They rock.

Oh, and I've already started Chapter 3, since my stupid internet is down, so I'll already have written some of it by the time this is posted. T.T

And another thing: why won't Fanfiction accept '.wps' files? It's still Microsoft, you know!? I guess I'm just annoyed because it's a pain in the ass to open the document, click 'Save As' then change the file type. My life is so hard... ;-;


	3. Blackouts and Lost Items

**_Disclaimer:_** _Don't own Naruto or any of its characters. But owning Shino would be nice. _

Pairing: **ShinoKiba**, maybe some hints of others.

Warning(s): Um, none that I can remember. The end of the chapter may be a little crappy; sorry about that. I wrote most of this a long time ago xD

_

* * *

_

_He was running again, and this time he was older, maybe seven or eight, but this time he was running from the-man-who-was-is-isn't-his-father. _

_The scenery had changed, no longer sunny and bright but dark and sinister. Dark gray clouds hung overhead and he could feel the thick humidity clinging to his exposed skin like a warm, damp cloth. He was running through a thick forest, huge trees towering above his head, branches menacing but dead. Everything was dead, the loamy leaves that muffled his frantic footsteps, the twisted, scary branches and trees all about him, and with a shock he saw that the small skeletons of animals littered the ground. The only thing alive in this barren realm was himself and the-man-who-was-is-isn't-his-father._

_Flinching as a low branch cut through his cheek, he glanced over his shoulder and saw the man had disappeared, left behind by adrenaline- and fear-boosted legs._

_Finally allowing himself to slow, he darted behind a tree, leaning against the warm, dead wood. His heartbeat was fast, so fast, almost as fast as the day he'd received his insects - he'd been so proud, but nervous and anxious as well, maybe almost fearful, knowing that the other children would no doubt reject him for his strange habits and hobbies. _

_The sweat dripped from his soaked bangs, blinding him, stinging as they made their way down his nose, and he tasted the salty, tear-like liquid. He could feel the sweat pooling, dripping down his back, soaking through his clothes. His breath came in harsh, short pants, and he pressed a hand over his mouth, trying to muffle the noise and hide his presence. He heard nothing, but that didn't mean the-man-who-was-is-isn't-his-father wasn't near by._

_Suddenly the hair stood up on the backs of his neck, and he tensed, ready to flee, but the man appeared in front of him in a flurry of leaves. The man's leer was exactly as he remembered, but a thin scar, probably a deep scratch, ran from his left cheek to the point of his chin._

"_Nice try, Shitami," he remarked, his voice pleasant, but he knew to watch for that. Whenever the man's voice became like that, it meant he was in trouble. "Didn't quite expect the attack from the bugs. I'll have to figure out what to do with those, eh?" _

_He didn't even see the man move, but suddenly his face was on fire, his ears ringing and vision momentarily nothing but white. When he could see again, the man's hand was raised again, ready to strike if he thought it necessary._

"_Let's see if we can't change that, hm?" he drawled, slapping him again. He screamed and staggered, falling to his hands and knees. "Stupid Shitami. When will you learn?" His foot slammed into his ribcage, sending him sprawling several feet away. He curled up into a ball as the man-who-was-is-isn't-his-father kicked him again, crunching his fingers beneath his booted feet, and he could hear himself begging, sobbing…_

---

Kiba's POV

Kiba rolled over as he was kicked in the leg. "Ugh, Akamaru, gerroff," he slurred, slowly sitting up - only to be slammed in the stomach.

He groaned and clutched his stomach painfully. "Damn it, stop you dumb mutt!" he growled, but Akamaru only whimpered - from the other side of the tent. No where near him.

The Inuzuka's eyes opened fully, and he stared in shock for several moments as Shino flailed around, whimpering almost inaudibly.

"No… No, father--!" he mumbled, flinching as Kiba grabbed his shoulder.

"Shino!" he hissed, shaking him. "Oi, baka, wake up!"

The Aburame shuddered and stopped moving. Kiba couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not, since he was wearing those ridiculous glasses, even at night. "…Sorry," Shino muttered, shrugging off his hand. "What happened?"

"Well, you kicked me in the leg and socked me in the stomach, and you scared Akamaru, but other than that… Nothing. Oh, you were mumbling 'No!' and 'Father!' as well," Kiba added, scratching his head. "Nightmare about getting caught without your glasses by your dad or something?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood, and Shino seemed to realise this because he replied,

"Something like that."

"So anyway, why'd you thank me the other night?" Kiba asked, thinking he might get an answer from the Aburame in his disoriented state.

"…Are you trying to take advantage of my disoriented state?" Shino asked, turning his head to regard his team mate.

"Heh, me? No, no, never," he assured him, sweat-dropping. "What time is it anyway?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "I mean, it's still dark out so I thought I might be able to get some more sleep," he explained, grinning.

"…I'm not sure. My internal clock is… off."

"Your internal clock is off," Kiba repeated.

"Off as in… off kilter. Disoriented. I'm unsure of what time it is."

"…Oh. At first I thought you meant like you'd turned it off or something…" Kiba chuckled weakly, but he knew that Shino's 'internal clock' had something to do with his kikkai ichu - and if Shino didn't know what time it was, something was seriously wrong with the bugs. "I guess I'll just go take a look outside."

"Hai."

"Sheesh, you'd think you could pick a more convenient time to decide your internal clock was off, though," he grumbled, crawling to the entrance. He cautiously lifted a flap, and saw that the moon was just touching the horizon, and on the opposite horizon, the sky was beginning to redden. Almost dawn.

"Aw, crap," he complained, dropping the flap back into place. "The sun's about to rise," he reported, allowing a note of depression to enter his voice. "Guess that means we should get up…"

"Hai." Shino sat up and slid out of his sleeping bag. "We should leave this place as quickly as possible."

Kiba blinked. "Okay, sure." He started to roll up his own sleeping bag, but Shino finished before him and was stuffing it into place on his pack.

"We'll just have some cold rations," the Aburame added, pulling out some dried fruit sealed In an airtight bag. "Hurry," he urged. "The sooner we get this over with, the better."

"…All right, all right," Kiba said, quickly putting his sleeping bag away. "What was that dream about anyway? It must've been something scarier than not wearing your glasses, to make you this disoriented and on edge."

"…I… cannot remember it," Shino murmured, pulling his pack onto his shoulders. "Now hurry, we'll eat on the road." The Aburame actually flapped his hands at him, which would have been hilarious if he wasn't so obviously nervous.

"All right! Jeez," the Inuzuka complained, pulling his pack onto one shoulder so he could still shift it around to get out some of his beef jerky as he quickly stumbled out of the tent.

Shino followed, and Akamaru emerged a moment later. He caught the strip of jerky thrown to him and it was gone in a matter of milliseconds. Kiba grinned at his dog and tossed him two more, then ate two himself.

They made short working of taking down the tent(1) and were on the road quickly.

The dog nin stifled a yawn. "Seriously, why the hurry? Surely it must not have been so bad if you can't even remember it-" He paused mid-sentence as he smelled the scent of other humans - probably another shinobi; few regular people had the unique smell of metal, blood, sweat and… well, it was hard to explain, but the best word Kiba could use to describe the scent was 'resolve'. Naruto reeked of it, when he wasn't farting (Kiba still hadn't forgiven him for that, when the Uzumaki's flatulence had helped the idiotic nin out in the first chûnin exam and then later, when they'd been searching for the Bikouchu) and Shino had a fair amount of it himself, but it was much subtler, mostly drowned out by the other things that made up his scent - his bugs, the shampoo and soap he used, the steel of shuriken and kunai… Shino smelled much better.

More importantly, the scent was coming from all about them. They'd only passed into the Hidden Sound Village's territory several minutes ago, but they were already surrounded.

_That quickly?_ Kiba thought, his hackles rising.

"Shinobi," he mumbled to Shino.

"We should try and keep going until they confront us," the Aburame murmured back.

Almost before the words were out of his mouth, five generic-looking ninja sprang out of the trees to surround them. Four were wearing the same camouflage masks and purple garb, as well as the Sound headband, as the ninja who had attacked Konoha two years ago. The fifth had similar clothes, but his face was uncovered and he wore round glasses that reflected the light of the sun rising behind them, making his eyes impossible to see. His gray hair, darker than Kakashi's, was pulled into a ponytail and his lips were curled into a smirk. He looked to be in his late teens, probably not much older than themselves.

He looked familiar, but Kiba couldn't place him, and soon forgot about that, since he started to speak.

"…And what, may I ask, are two Konona chûnin doing in the Land of Rice?" he inquired mildly. His voice was pleasant, but Kiba tensed anyway, somehow resisting the urge to drop his hand to his shuriken holster. Tone of voice had very little to do with what a person was actually thinking, and with the upper part of his face hidden, the Inuzuka could only guess at his intention.

"Just passing through," Shino replied calmly.

The gray-haired nin cocked his head to the side. "Oh? Well, I think you'd best turn back and go around."

"Not possible. Our destination will be reach the fastest if we go straight through."

This time the other nin leaned forward, and Kiba could see his eyes. "Maybe you didn't understand me. That wasn't a suggestion, and if you want to reach your destination at all, it's in your best interest to turn back. Now." He had lost his mild voice, replaced it with thinly veiled malice as he stared the two chûnin down, but neither Leaf shinobi were about to back away.

Suddenly, two nin on either side gave a shout and started madly swatting at their legs. The gray-haired boy looked away for a brief second, and Kiba's fist collided with his face.

He staggered back, and the two ninja who weren't afflicted leaping to take his place.

Akamaru snarled and leapt straight at one, knocking him out of the air, and Kiba, who had drawn three shuriken in that small time period, threw them at the other, who sprang to the side to avoid them, cursing loudly. He pressed his hands together, rapidly flicking his fingers through various hand signs, but Akamaru, finished with the other ninja, and Kiba sprang out him, quickly disposing of h is with Gatsugaa. (2)

Shino's bug made short work of the other two, cutting off the chakra paths leading to their arms and legs, effectively disabling them. All that remained was the gray-haired ninja.

"Tch, what a bunch of idiots I've been assigned. Orochimaru-sama will not be pleased," he muttered, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He wiped one gloved hand over his mouth and glared at them. "While I could easily beat you, I have neither the time nor the patience to do so. I'll have to return to the base and get reinforcements… We should have just attacked you in the night…" He scowled. "You'd better run fast if you want to make it before I come back, little Leaf nin." His eyes narrowed, and then he was gone. (3)

Kiba swallowed, and glanced over at Shino, who was allowing the last of his kikkai ichu to disappear into a sleeve.

"He's right. We should hurry. No more walking, not until we're out," Shino agreed, adjusting his collar.

"Hai!"

And then they were gone too, running with their arms behind them. (4)

"He seemed familiar," Kiba remarked as they ran off the road which skirted around the forest into which they were running. It would be faster to just cut through.

"Hai." They sprang up onto a branch and travelled like that, jumping easily from branch to branch.

"D'you remember his name?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Hm."

After this thrilling, monosyllabic conversation, they ran on in silence, the only sounds the soft impacts of their sandals hitting the soil (they'd run out of the forest, which turned out to be little more than a mile of trees) and the harsh sound of their breathing as they tried to keep off the beaten track. Somehow this reminded Kiba of the journey to 'retrieve' Uchiha Sasuke. Except he hadn't wanted retrieval, and all they had accomplished was rendered useless.

He remembered the horrible fight with Sakon and Ukon

Before then Kiba hadn't minded the stuck up Uchiha, pegging his behaviour down to the traumatisation of walking in on his slaughtered clan, and, in a way, his departure had also been a result of that, but the way he had gone about it… Unforgivable. Naruto hadn't spoken of his fight with his former team mate, but Kiba knew what he had done to Sakura. The poor girl, Kiba could only be glad that Hinata had a crush on Naruto, not Sasuke, like Ino and Sakura. And Hinata had still been heartbroken, even though she'd known the Uzumaki would be returning eventually; Kiba could only imagine how it felt.

They barely stopped at noon, pausing only to pull out some more dry rations and scarf them down before continuing.

---

About half-way through the afternoon, when they were running through yet another forest, Kiba caught a whiff of ninja scent several miles behind them.

"They're coming," he said to Shino, who nodded.

"We have to move faster," he stated, and sped up. "I think the Land of Stars is only several miles away, so we shouldn't have to keep this up for too much longer."

Kiba nodded, not wanting to waste more breath on unnecessary speech. Akamaru gave a small "arf!" of agreement.

Despite this, the shinobi were getting closer, and they both knew it, so Kiba had to wonder if their 'base' was nearby, for them to be so obviously rested and ready to give chase.

"Damn," he mumbled, rummaging around in his shuriken holster. "We should probably leave some traps, eh, Shino?" He pulled out several burning tags and held them up for the Aburame to see.

"Unnecessary. I have been leaving groups of kikkai ichu behind ever since you said that," Shino replied calmly.

"Oh. Good thinking," Kiba replied, a little surprised, but not overly. The Aburame was so often made the leader of Team 8 when Kurenai was unavailable because of his cool composure and ability to think several steps ahead - Kiba guessed he probably rivalled Shikamaru, except he wasn't so lazy, but he was generally underappreciated because the Nara was more popular. He had a more usual habit, and he didn't have the same 'creepy' aura about himself, and he alone among the rookies had been made a chûnin after the attack upon Konoha by the then-allied forces the Hidden Sand and Sound Villages, but Kiba had a feeling that if Shino had had the chance to fight in the third part of the exam, he would have been passed as well.

Not that he disliked Shikamaru or something - he had only the utmost respect for the other boy, but he liked Shino a lot better; he doubted he'd be able to stand the Nara's cloud-watching tendencies and lazy demeanour that he exhibited when not actually on a mission.

"…Kiba?"

Shino's tense voice brought the Inuzuka out of his internal ruminations, and he realised the Aburame had been speaking to him.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you detected the presence of any Sound shinobi up ahead," Shino repeated, and Kiba had to wonder if his team mate had rolled his eyes; it had certainly sounded like it, at any rate, and the Inuzuka tried to quell the heat he felt rising to his cheeks. Damn, he had to stop all this stupid blushing. He wasn't Hinata! (5)

"Although," Shino continued, "that's upwind, so you wouldn't be able to detect them…" He trailed off, looking ahead.

"Well, what about your bugs? Have any of the Sound nin… happened upon them yet?" Kiba asked, a little irked.

Shino turned his head, presumably looking at his team mate who, if they'd been on the ground, standing still, probably would have shifted uncomfortably, but they were not, so he resorted to looking the other way, trying to ignore the blush that he knew was spreading over his cheeks,

"Yes," was the reply, and they ran on in silence after that.

_How far is it to the border anyway?_ Kiba thought irritably, squinting against the glare of the sun, which had begun to slowly descend from the sky. It shone directly into his eyes, and the Inuzuka wished he had sunglasses like Shino, and envied the Aburame for it.

He scowled and shook his head to dispel the thoughts, sending small droplets of sweat that had collected on the tips of his hair cascading down. The dog nin swiped the back of his hand across his eyes impatiently, hoping the sweat-free eyes would improve his vision as he tried to see forward, but the sun was blinding, and it was pretty hot out, especially in a bulky jacket like the one Kiba was wearing., but he pressed forward, running now, since they'd passed through the forest. He could vaguely make out the green-brown of dried-out grass passing beneath his feet and all around, and the white bulk of his faithful Akamaru by his side,

"Kiba--"

Then everything _was_ truly, purely white, slowly fading into a heavy, stifling black… (6)

---

When Kiba came to, he was lying on something soft, and it was pleasantly cool. He lay like that for several moments, wondering if his mother was about to come in and yell at him to get his lay ass up soon. A few moments later, he came to the conclusion that this was not so, since he realised that he was on an away mission, far from his fearsome mother, but someone just as strict was with him - his team mate Shino. Where was that guy anyway?

The Inuzuka sat up slowly, wincing as a sudden pain shot through him, but mostly felt it on his face.

"Ugh…" he mumbled, grimacing as he tasted the salty-bitter tang of blood in his mouth. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and regretted it immediately, falling back against the soft thing he was on. He thought it was a bed, but had not yet risked opening his eyes.

He smelled Shino all about him, but couldn't pinpoint his location. His nose felt stuffy, like he had a cold or some sinus problems, but that was ridiculous; he wasn't allergic to anything, and it was summertime, about mid-August, actually. (7)

"Shino?" he asked, vexed at how timid his voice sounded, even to his own ears, and he recalled the startled and slightly alarmed tone Shino's voice had had the last time he had heard him speak. "Wha… What happened? Did those Sound nin catch up to us? Were we ambushed?"

"…Kiba, you…" His friend was close by, but Shino seemed hesitant - not a good sign. Had something happened? Had he been horribly disfigured? Kiba raised a hand to his face and gingerly felt it, but apart from some seriously painful bruises and a large lump on his forehead, nothing seemed amiss.

"What is it?!" he demanded in a pained voice, hoping it wasn't too terrible. "Tell me, Shino!"

"You… You… ran into a tree…" The Aburame sounded like he was suppressing, with great difficulty, laughter, but Kiba hardly heard him, he was so shocked by the news.

"I… Ran into a… Are you serious?! Hey-- it's not funny, Shino!" Kiba snapped, outraged. He sat up quickly, his eyes open wide (a big mistake, for the world swam hazily before his eyes for several long moments) and glared at his friend, who was sitting on a bed several feet away. He was doubled over, shoulders shaking silently.

"…All right, fine, it was a little funny…" Kiba mumbled grudgingly, trying to ignore his throbbing face, but even through the persistent pain, he felt a blush spreading over his face. "Aw, damn it, Shino…" He sighed, running a hand through his hair, being careful to avoid the especially painful bump on his forehead. "Where are we, anyway?" he demanded, irritated, but the pain of scowling was too much for him. He could only imagine the pained grimace one his face.

"Ah, right. Well, it turns out we had already entered the Land of Stars when you had you're… accident." He sounded like he was going to burst out laughing at any moment, so Kiba snarled,

"And?! Did you carry me here?"

"So I put you on Akamaru's back, and he carried you," Shino explained, and the Inuzuka felt inexplicably disappointed. Luckily, it didn't show on his face.

"Oh. Well, that makes more sense," Kiba allowed, closing his eyes and laying back again. "So, I guess that means we can start tracking the rogue now, with that technique of yours."

"…No." Shino sounded embarrassed.

Kiba blinked. "Why… not?"

"I… I dropped the scroll when we fled from the Sound shinobi," the Aburame explained, obviously embarrassed this time. Was that…? Was he _blushing_?! It was hard to say, what with his high collar and all.

Kiba sighed and sat up again, running a hand through his hair. "Well… I guess it's not that bad…" he mumbled. "We can always just go investigate the towns where this rogue attacked."

Shino nodded. "Yes." His voice sounded grateful, and with a shock Kiba realised that his friend had thought he would_ blame_ him for losing his scroll.

"So, uh, um, we should go ask around about where the attacks were," he suggested, suddenly flustered again. _Damn it!_ he thought, feeling his cheeks heating, again!

"Are you feeling well enough? I wouldn't want you to meet any more evil trees," Shino said gravely.

Kiba snarled, then winced. "Quiet!" he snapped, irritated once more. "Jeez, everyone thinks you don't have a sense of humor, but I know better, and it's every bit as twisted as mine," he complained, standing up. "Let's just go."

* * *

Author's Note: It seems as if the chapters are getting shorter and shorter. Sorry about that too xD

(1)I I've always wondered where the heck they put those things. I mean, there's only one, but who has to carry it? And I must be a pretty big thing to carry around. I'll just leave where it goes and comes from a mystery xD

(2) That's how you spell it, right? Anyway, I think it's called 'Fang over fang' or something like that in English.

(3) Hope I made him IC. I'm not quite sure about that.

(4) And why do they run like that? Troubling. It's not very practical, you know? Or maybe it is; I've never tried to do so before. Must attempt that sometime, and then cunningly insinuate how it went into a future chapter.

(5) -raises eyebrows-

(6) That would have been an awesome (coughclichécough) cliff hanger, but I thought it would be mean to make such a short chapter, and I hadn't gotten all the things I wanted to happen in this chapter finished with yet.

(7) Unless I've made reference to a season/date earlier in the fic. In which case it's not. Tell me if I have, kthx,

Anyway, as always, read, review, etc. Thanks!


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